Blog

Although the technology has been around since World War II, state and local governments have recently begun incorporating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices into identification documents like driver's licenses and passports. Citizens are compelled to carry these RFID-enabled devices, which broadcast their personal information and often lack meaningful privacy and security protections. A... Read More

Although the technology has been around since World War II, state and local governments have recently begun incorporating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices into identification documents such as student IDs and passports. Citizens are compelled to carry these RFID-enabled devices, which broadcast personal information and often lack meaningful privacy and security protections. As a resul... Read More

Ever whiled away five minutes on a Facebook quiz, finding out what cartoon character is your look-alike or how your IQ stacks up? These quizzes may seem like a perfectly harmless way to spend a few spare minutes. But have you stopped to think about what these quizzes are learning about you and how that info could be used? Take our quiz and learn more!QUESTION 1: When you take a Facebook quiz, the ... Read More

After your support drove the California Legislature to send a letter rejecting the Department of Motor Vehicle's proposal to begin embedding biometric information—face and fingerprint scans—into drivers' licenses, a senate subcommittee voted yesterday to delete the facial scan proposal from the DMV's contract with drivers' license providers.Senators Simitian and Lowell, who voted to delete the pro... Read More

For Rochelle Hamilton, starting high school was the beginning of relentless harassment from teachers and school staff because she's openly gay. One teacher told her, "You're going to hell. This is a sin." Another said, "What's wrong with you? What are you, a man or a woman?" After months of asking the school and the district to intervene – to no avail – Rochelle and her mom reached out to the ACLU... Read More

A big thumbs up to the San José City Council for standing up for free speech and against censorship on Tuesday night and voting against the installation of internet blocking software on library computers.After 18 months of hard work by the ACLU, coalition partners, and concerned individuals like you who contacted Council members to support open access, free speech prevailed in San José. The City C... Read More

On Tuesday, April 21, at 7pm, the San José City Council will consider a proposal that would limit public access to important information by imposing filtering on the Internet terminals in public libraries. If you live or work in San José, please attend this meeting and join us in opposing this proposal.The Council meeting agenda includes a proposal by Councilmember Constant that would require the ... Read More

AT&T recently announced the launch of FamilyMap, a service that allows customers with a "Family Plan" to track the locations of other cell phones on the same plan.This is the kind of service that, whether well-intentioned or not, raises all sorts of privacy concerns: it can be used just as easily to monitor a partner or even a parent as to keep tabs on a child's location. Unfortunately, the se... Read More

Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society is hosting a panel event this coming Tuesday, April 7, from 5-7:30 p.m. about the ACLU of Northern California's new document, Privacy and Free Speech: It's Good for Business. The event is free and open to the public and a limited number of individuals may also attend via webcast. Panel from 5-6:30 p.m., reception to follow.Panelists: Andre... Read More

On March 18 2009, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed a bill ending the death penalty in his state, replacing it with permanent imprisonment. Gov. Richardson’s courageous act makes New Mexico the third state – following New Jersey and New York in 2007 – to end the death penalty in favor of an alternative that better supports the needs of victims and the public safety concerns for all New Me... Read More

Privacy and Free Speech: It's Good for Business, released today by the ACLU of Northern California, is a first-of-its-kind publication offering hands-on tips for how businesses can build their reputations–while saving time and money–by properly protecting customers' privacy and free speech. The publication is based on dozens of case studies analyzing what prominent companies like Google, Yahoo!, Q... Read More

ACLU of Northern California released a new report revealing that California continues to spend more money on the death penalty, even while fewer counties actually send anyone to death row. Read More